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Saturday, March 14, 2015

Lucky March: Life is full of surprises

Hi folks, I'm a novelist as well as a picture book author. I am especially fortunate that way, lucky, if you will. I am half a century old and over the course of my journey, the nature of luck has been made clear to me. This month my series is Lucky March, where I'm exploring the wonder of luck in our lives.

First, some lucky stuff coming up. Today is PI day, and this very morning at 26 minutes and 53 seconds after 9 a.m., we passed a date and time represented by the first 10 digits of π. How lucky is that? And how about this, on March 20 there will be a total eclipse by the vernal equinox sun. That happens about once every 19 years! So lucky.

If you go searching through the books on my shelves you will find quite a collection (not just books). I tuck four leaf clovers, owlet feathers, interesting seeds, fortunes, weird money, leaves, flowers, candy wrappers, drawings by my kids, and whatever other little bits I find in the pages of my books. When I reread my books, I always laugh when I come across one of my lucky treasures. These bits remind me life is full of surprises.

What is all this about? One thing my parents instilled in me is to never lose your childlike wonder of the world. My 80-year-old dad still gets down on the floor and plays make-believe with his 5-year-old grandson. My grandmother taught me to knock on wood to help good things along. I still wish on bales of hay. I will never be too old to play. I keep my eyes open to the world around and embrace the lucky gifts it has to offer me. I believe this practice enriches me and enriches my writing. I am ready to believe many impossible things before breakfast. I hope you are too.

Don't listen to those who scoff at the salt over your shoulder, your love for the number seven, your Maneki-neko collection, your bamboo plant on your desk, or that huge helping of black-eyed peas on the first day of the year. Luck is about our lack of control, our need for meaningful coincidence, our hunger for Divine providence. Like the three brothers of Serendip, forge a path that mixes sound judgement with the lucky happenings of your lives.

I hope you stumble upon many lucky things this week and that your life is filled with wonder. I hope you try and find ways to express this wonder to others. I will be back next week with more Lucky March.

Here is a doodle for you.

Finally here is a poem for you pocket from Ella Higginson(1861-1940), a poet from Washington state.

Four-leaf Clover by Ella Higginson

I know a place where the sun is like gold,
And the cherry blooms burst with snow,
And down underneath is the loveliest nook,
Where the four-leaf clovers grow.

One leaf is for hope, and one is for faith,
And one is for love, you know,
And God put another in for luck—
If you search, you will find where they grow.

But you must have hope, and you must have faith,
You must love and be strong – and so—
If you work, if you wait, you will find the place
Where the four-leaf clovers grow.